The European Union has approved sweeping new protections for whistleblowers and is sending the new rules on to member countries to adapt them into the countries’ own laws.

“It’s a real thrill for those of us on the front lines,” said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project in Washington, D.C., which has helped thousands of whistleblowers with cases. Devine has worked to pass or defend 34 national or international whistleblower laws, including nearly all U.S. laws, over the last two decades.